1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monolithic ceramic capacitors, and more specifically relates to a monolithic ceramic capacitor including an outer electrode arranged on a ceramic element body including an inner electrode that is connected to the outer electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of representative monolithic ceramic electronic components is, for example, a monolithic ceramic capacitor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-176956.
As shown in FIG. 4, the monolithic ceramic capacitor has a structure in which a pair of outer electrodes 104 (104a, 104b) are arranged on a pair of end surfaces 103 (103a, 103b) of a ceramic multilayer body (ceramic element body) 110 having a plurality of inner electrodes 102 (102a, 102b) stacked intermittently with ceramic layers 101 serving as dielectric layers. Plated films 105 of, for example, Ni and Sn are formed on the surfaces of the outer electrodes 104 (104a, 104b).
Also, the outer electrodes 104 (104a, 104b) are formed by applying conductive paste, in which a metal conductor and a glass composition are blended according to a predetermined ratio, to the ceramic element body and baking the conductive paste.
Also, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-176956, by dispersing glass having a predetermined composition in the outer electrodes, it is expected to increase resistance to mechanical stress and thermal shock from the outside.
However, in the case of the above-described monolithic ceramic capacitor, when the conductive paste for forming the outer electrodes is baked in a manufacturing process thereof, the inner electrodes 102 may expand in a stacking direction (thickness direction or T direction) of the inner electrodes 102 and a width direction (direction orthogonal to a direction in which the inner electrodes extend or W direction) of the inner electrodes 102. Due to the expansion, for example, as schematically shown in FIG. 5, when viewed from the end surface 103 side of the capacitor element body 110, a crack 111 may be generated so as to extend from a corner portion of the effective region, in which the plurality of inner electrodes 102 are stacked with the ceramic layers 101 and which contributes to generation of capacitance, to a corner portion of the ceramic element body 110. Thus, reliability is decreased.